Peanut harvester



G. C. KEARSE ,PEANUT HARVESTER June 17, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1946 r m n w 1. I

r m e1 afiaz'se June 17, 1952 G. C. KEARSE PEANUT HARVESTER 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 15, 1946 Inventor wan.

Grover 6f Earsa eni ma 3 04453 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 15, 1946 NW WK HHmn M -HHM June 17, 1952 G. c. KEARSE PEANUT HARVESTER 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 15, 1946 June 17, 1952 G. C. KEARSE PEANUT HARVESTER 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 15, 1946 Grover CKarse 1 i Qgwwfi and)? A Horn 2:

June 17, 1952 G. c. KEARSE PEANUT HARVE$TER 7 Sheets-Sheet e Filed NOV. 15, 1946 Graver file ear.

B and 7! WI! h IIIIFIUIHHMII June 17, 1952 G. c. KEARSE PEANUT HARVESTER 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Nov. 15, 1946 Patented June 17, 1 952 UNITED STATES TRENT OFFICE 12 Glaims. ,1

This invention relates {to ;a peanut harvester and more particularly ate a machine of the trailer type adapted to "follow 12. plowby which the peanuts and their vines are loosened in the ground.

Peanut harvestersiall into two general ;;c1asses namely, those which'a-rejequipped with ,plows for digging the peanuts and vines 510056 from the ,ground .and subsequently lifting :the vines and peanuts :from the :ground and depositing them either in piles on the ground or in a hopperfor subsequent disposaland the other type of machine which is adapted'tobe connected to a plow as a trailer to lift theqilow-ed up Nines with .the peanuts attached and deposit them in piles :orin a-hopper for-suhsequent disposal. 'Ihe machine to which this invention relates :is of :the latter type and constitutes a separate-and distinct unit from theplow.

The primary object of theinventioniisto follow 'a peanut plowing machine and to: g=ather the peanutsonthe vines, and elevatethem for subsequent deposit in a hopper whieh may per-iodioally-beagitatedto shake thedirt and clebr-is- 'f-rom the peanuts and vines.

Another object is to accumulate a number of peanut vines in th'e hopper and discharge the'm periodically in theform of separatepiles.

A still further object is Y to --remove the debris from thepeanuts and-the vines before they are deposited in the piles subsequently-to be gathered.

The aboveand other-objets-may be attained by employing this invention "which embodies among its features, awheeled main frame,--a subframe supported beneath the main frameto move rearwardly with relation thereto, an upwardly and-rearwardly inclinedelevator supported at its upper end in themain frame-and at its lowerend in the sub-framegfingers carried" by the-elevator to engage vines on the'groun'd and deliver 'them and dump them from the-upper rear end ofthe elevator andmeans yieldingly to urge the subframe towards the"fro nt: end of" the mainframe. Other features include imeans' to regulate lthe height of the front :endxof'thetsub-framewith relationsto .thez'main fra-rne ztoi govern the depth to which the=- fingers :enterfithe aground "which :has been previouslyloosenechbyiplows, and a movable hopper at iither rear end -.of S the; .main frame :into which thevinesare deposited by the conveyor.

other features -inc-lude :means .Ior :;shak-- ing the hoppervwith-vines containedz gtherein so as to shakeloose earth and debris from thevines v and-peanuts thus'gathered.

-Sti11; furtherv features :includetan'iendzgate at :the rear end of the hopper adapted; periodically '40: 7 "can tear to be opened by the operator in order to dump the .;contents of the hopper .in a pile upon the enemi- -1 th td a in a o figur l ,is a side "view-of a peanut harvester embednee the ature lq th -ieven h:

v (Bierire 2 is "a side view taken irorn the side cp eei i f eur Figure 3 .a frontview of the harvester; ...Fiemte he ea i w-t-t t e v R55 z fll l iiud na eeq i ne iv wzi subs tiallyaleng the=1ine-5 5-of Figure 3;

ar --.6 a to q le iew e the e sn owmg the ehains and elevators removed he f m;

:Eiew r is wirereene enlarged n pf t -fro nt :end of the 51gb -f;rarne illustrating the wine eiathet nefine ten tai i ur l i a aem ntet e ar ed s ti n V ew :thm ehe ,po tionp th i m and n O th ve whe l llust atin :t ehme :n y: hi i ivine c nn t is e ieb iehed he wle ngthezwh el ndithe el at r;

Eieureais a seqtiona avi tak n su tan ia ,elonat 1ine s :o i er i Ei -vure l1; :is an enlaree rlan iew o a a men o ithe v o :F eu 1 sla en ar ed f a menta y secti a wiewrb ikefin eubstantiallyl along the line I l-l l I of so Fi ure 1.0. Land,

Figure k2; is a fragmentaryirontview of Fi gure 1.1

in'fmm gs 1 in -v detail, the-main de n e en r azrp iz nta .7 v 1 r nately m-idway of the'length :o ith rame. S ure to t i rwa d en 0 a-eaohgsidegbarlis an L-shaped, bracketv l9 theforwa plee f-w extend sis qwnw t l ee ti he et acr e 9 Q as i l 145 sateen J b weda etates-mid J iti rzb owet rnera l Ye n 1QW e of the downwardly projecting legs of the ,Leshaped brackets 19. Pivotal1y;supporteol in .termediate the QHQS OffihBaCIQSS bar ZO is an 50 inverted:rueshapedoke zl iEigure -3) to .the lowerends of the 1 legs ,of whigih ;are. oonnected axle shafts upon whi-ch ground-4 contacting (wheels .22 are rotatably supported. .A tongue ,23extends forwardlyjfrom the yoke 2 I and oarries ,at -.i ts 55extreme forward end aivooupling clevis-lfilby means of which the machine is connected to a traction vehicle such as a plow. Rotatably supported on opposite ends of the axle l8, on the outer sides of the frame l5 are bull wheels which cooperate with the wheels 22 in supporting the frame I5 in substantially horizontally spaced relation to the surface being traversed. Carried adjacent the extreme rear ends of the side bars l6 are standards 26 forming the rear end supports of a pair of upwardly inclined bars 21 the forward ends of which are connected to the side bars l6 adjacent their forward ends. Suitable brace bars 28 are connected to the side bars [6 and the upwardly inclined bars 21 in order rigidly to support the latter in place on the main frame l5. A standard 29 rises from each side bar I6 and is connected to its respective inclined bar 2'! slightly to the rear of the axle H3 in order to reinforce the inclined bars 2'! at this point.

Elevator drive Formed on the hub of one of the bull wheels 25 is an annular row of inwardly projecting teeth 36 (Figure 8), and slidably mounted on the shaft I 8 adjacent the toothed end of the hub is the hub 31 of a drive sprocket 32. The end of the hub 3| of the drive sprocket 32 facing the toothed end of the hub of the bull wheel 25 is an annular row of mating teeth 33 which when the hub 3| is advanced toward the hub of wheel 25 cooperates with the teeth 30 in driving the hub 3| in unison with the wheel. A compression coil spring 34 is disposed between the hubs in order normally to urge them apart as will be readily understood upon reference to Figure 9. Mounted for longitudinal sliding movement on the axle l8 adjacent the hub 3| is a collar 34' carrying a depending angle bracket 35 to which is pivoted one end of a lever 36. This lever is pivoted intermediate its ends to a bracket 31 which in turn depends from the side bars I6 of the frame [5 adjacent the sprocket 32, and connected to the end of the lever 36 opposite that which is connected to the bracket 35 is a pull rod 33 which extends forwardly and is connected as at 39 to the lower end of a clutch control lever 46 pivoted as at 4| to the upwardly and rearwardly inclined bar 2'! on the side of the machine adjacent the sprocket 32. This lever is held in various adjusted positions about its pivot 4| by means of a latch and quadrant 42 of any conventional type which will enable pull to be exerted on the pull rod 38 in order to move the clutch teeth 33 to engagement with the clutch teeth 30, against the compression of the spring 34, so as to establish driving connection between the adjacent bull wheel 25 and the sprocket 32. Mounted in suitable bearings carried on the upper sides of the upwardly inclined bars 21 directly above the column 29 is a drive shaft 43 carrying at one end a drive sprocket 44. A drive chain 45 establishes driving connection between the sprocket 32 and the sprocket 44, it being understood that the sprocket 44 is fixed to the shaft 43 adjacent the end which overhangs the sprocket 32.

Fixed to the opposite end of the drive shaft 43 is a drive sprocket 46 which has driving connection through the medium of a chain 4'! with a sprocket 48 fixed to one end of a driven shaft 50 which extends transversely of the machine near the upper rear ends of the upwardly inclined bars 21 (Figure 2). A suitable idler sprocket 5| engages the bottom run of the chain 41 in order to preserve proper tension thereon and prevent the sagging thereof. Mounted on the end of the shaft 56 opposite that carrying the sprocket 48 is a drive gear 52 which has meshing engagement with a drive pinion 53 fixed to one end of the elevator drive shaft 54 (Figure 1). This elevator drive shaft 54 extends transversely of the machine at the upper rear ends of the upwardly inclined bars 21 and has fixed thereto immediately inside of the upwardly inclined bars 2! drive sprockets 55 and 56, and fixed to the shaft 54 midway between the side bars or rails 21 is an elevator drive sprocket. It will thus be seen that when the lever 40 is shifted to cause the clutch teeth 33 to engage the clutch teeth 36, and the machine is in motion pull will be transmitted to the elevator drive sprockets 55, 56 and 51 to cause the upper run of the elevator to move upwardly and rearwardly of the frame l5. Suitable idler sprockets 58 and 59 are mounted to rotate on the shaft 43 adjacent the upwardly inclined bars 21 and a similar idler sprocket 66 is rotatably supported on the shaft 43 midway between the upwardly inclined bars 21 as will readily be understood upon reference to Figure 6. These idler sprockets are adapted to cooperate with the drive sprockets in supporting the upper runs of the drive chains of the elevator to be more fully hereinafter described.

Sub-frame The sub-frame designated generally 6| comprises a pair of spaced side bars 62 carrying at their extreme forward ends a pair of upwardly extending arms 63, the upper ends of which are joined by a tie rod 64. Each side bar 62 carries adjacent its rear end an upwardly and rearwardly extending bracket arm 65 to each of which is connected the lower end of a lever 66 which is pivotally connected as at 61 intermediate its ends to a side bar I6. Attached to the upper end of each lever 66 is a retractile coil spring 68, the opposite end of which is connected through the medium of a turnbuckle 69 to the rearmost brace bar 28 on its respective side of the machine. Fixed to each side bar 62 adjacent its forward end is a pair of spaced anti-friction bearings I0 in which spaced parallel shafts H are rotatably supported. Each of these shafts is provided adjacent a side bar 62 with a guide sprocket 12 and 73, and attached to each shaft H midway between the side bars 62 is a guide sprocket 14. As illustrated in Figure 6 the drive sprocket 56 aligns with the idler sprocket 58 and the guide sprockets 12, while each drive sprocket 56 aligns with the idler sprocket 59 and the guide sprockets l3, likewise the drive sprocket 51 aligns with the idler sprocket 69 and the guide sprockets 14, so that chains trained over these respective sets of sprockets will operate in parallel planes. Supported on a suitable depending bracket at the forward end of each side bar 62 is a shoe T5, the forward end of each of which is curved upwardly as at 16, so that when the frame 6| is tilted downwardly the shoes will serve to limit the depth to which the vine elevating fingers to be more fully hereinafter described may enter the ground.

Pivotally secured as at 1'! adjacent the forward end of each side bar 62 is a pull rod 18 which extends upwardly and forwardly as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and their upper ends are slidably received in sleeves 79 which gee-tea 5 are pivotauy connected at so {at rock "arms '3': carried adjacent opposite "ends fora. rock shaft 82 which is mounted in suitable b'e'aring b'racb ets 83 attached to the upper side of the platform ll. A stop collar I8 is mounted on each pull rod '58 for longitudinal adjustment thereon. A hand lever 3 4 is fixed to the rock shaft 82 and is held in various adjusted positions about the axis of the shaft 52 'ymean of a latch and quadrant '85 of any conventional form. It will thus be seen that by manipmati n the lever 81 the forward end of the frame Ii'l rnay be raised or lowered to suit the requirements.

'Pivota'lly connected to the junctidns of the brackets 55 and the leversftfi are upwardly and forwardly extending suspension rods or drag links 00, the upper ends'of which areisli'dably and lockably supported in brackets 81 carried by the side bars It, and adjustably attached to the ends of the drag links or roasts which project through the brackets 87 are stop collars 83 which serve 'to limit rearward and downward movementor the rear end or thefiarne 5 l Hopper Pivotally suspended fromnabracket giiadjacent I the rear end of each side bar It is a link 90, and pivoted to one of theside bars as "at SI somewhat in advance of the link QIBon'its resr ective side 'of the machine is a link 92 of somewhat shorter length than the links 92. Pivoted as at 03 to the opposite side bar It is .a lever 94, the lowerjend of which extends downwardly to "agplane coincidental with the lower end of the link SZwhile the upper end of said lever is provided with a forwardly extending arm 95 which is pierced toreceive one end of a-flexible cable 90. Attached to the side bars It on which the lever 94 is pivoted is a depending bracket 91 carryingaiguidepulley 93 over which the cable 95 is trained, and mounted in a suitable bracket 99 secured tog one of the brace Fears on the side of the machine to which the lever 9 i is pivoted is a guide pulley I over which the cable 93 is trained. As shown in Figure 2 the cable extends forwardly from the guide pulley let, and its forward end is connected to a rock arm lei carried by one end ofa rock shaft I02 which is mounted to rotate in suitable brackets carried by theupwardly inclined bars 21 so as to lie in substantial alignment with the axis of the pivot oi the lever 50. A hand lever I03 is connected to the rock shaft I02 and is equipped with a latch and quadrant mechanism I04 of any conventional form to hold the lever I03 in various adjusted positions about the axis of the shaft I02. Supported on the lower ends of the links 00, the link 92 and the lever 94 is the bottom I or" a hopper designated generally I06. Extending upwardly from'opposite side edges of the bottom I55 are side Walls I07, the forward upper portions of which lie "adjacent the innersi'de of the side bars I6, while their rear portions extend somewhat beyond the rear ends of the side bars. The upper and lower edges of the side panels I01 lie parallel with one another, but due to the difference in length between the link 92, the lever 04 and the links 90 it will be obvious that the hopper I05 will incline rearwardly and downwardly.

Mounted or otherwise secured to each standard 23 immediately above the hopper I06 is a guide rack designated generally I08 each side of which comprises a pair of spaced horizontally disposed supporting bars I09 between which extend vertically disposed spaced parallel slats I I0. Piv- 6 otally supported in suitable brackets IH carried "adjacent the extreme rear "ends Of thebottom bar's I09 or the rack I08 is a horizontally extending rock shaft I I2. A rock arm I13 is fixed to one end of the rock shaft I12, and pivoted at IM to the rock arm II3 i's'one end of a link I I5, the opposite end of which is pivoted to the extreme lower end of the lever 94. Secured at longitudinally spaced intervals to the rock shaft II2 are depending tines I It which as illustrated in Figures l and 5 form an end gate for the lower rear end of the hopper I05. It will thus be seen that rapid movement of the lever I03 through a short arc will cause the hopper I00 to vibrate so as to shake the dirt from the vines collected therein and upon movement of the lever I03 through a greater are the rock arm II3 will be rotated to cause the shaft II2 to move the tines I It into a position to clear the rear end of the hopper as suggested by the dotted lines in Figure 5. 0bviously, any slight opening of the rear end gate resulting from the movement of the lever I03 through the short are may he so controlled as merely to agitate the'c'ontents of the hopper I06 without discharging the vines contained therein.

\ Elevator The elevator designated generally I I 'I is made upof a plurality of chains H8, H9 and I28 which are respectively trained over the drive sprocket 55, idler sprocket 58 and guide sprockets I2; drive sprocket 56, idler sprocket 59 and guide sprockets I3; and drive sprocket 51; idler sprocket 0e and uide sprockets it. It will thus be seen that the central chain I20 is locatedmidway between opposite sides of the frame "I5 while the chains I I9 and I I8 operate adjacent the sides of the frame I5. As illustrate-d in Figure 10, it is to be noted that the chain I20 is made up of groups of links I"2I having lateral extensions I22 which are pierced as at I23 to receive attaching elements such as bolts to which transversely extending slats are attached. As illustrated, the groups of links I2! are separated'by a single link I24 which is plain and not provided with the lateral extensions I22, and the adjacent links I2I have the extensions I22 projecting in opposite directions. The side chains I I8 and II 9 are composed of plain links I24 in groups of two and between each group is interposed a link I2 I, with its lateral extension arranged to align with the lateral extension on a link I2 I of the chain I20, and extending between the extensions I22 on the links I2! are transversely extending bars or flights I25.

By the staggered arrangement of the links 'I2I thefiights I25 on opposite sides of the elevator are in staggered position as will be readily understood upon reference to Figure 10. Each flight I25 is provided with longitudinally spaced openings for the 'receptionof attaching bolts I25 by which the spring fingers to be more fully'hereinafter described are attached to the flights.

Each spring finger above referred to comprises a pair of spaced parallel arms I21 each of which is bent downwardly adjacent one end as at I23, and these downturned ends I28 are joined by a cross bar I29. Formed at the ends of the side arms I21 are spring loops I30 from which project upwardly spaced parallel spring fingers I3I. A group of anchor plates I32 are attached to each flight I25 by means of the attaching bolts I26, and each anchor plate is provided in its underside with a pair of spaced transversely extending grooves I33 for the reception of the bars I2! of the spring fingers. As illustrated in Figure 11 the angularly extending arms I28 and the cross member I29 engage one side edge of each flight I25 in order to reinforce the connection between the fingers I3I and their respective flight I25. By the staggered arrangement of the flights I25 on opposite sides of the elevator II! it is obvious that when the elevator is discharging its load at the upper end of the upwardly inclined bars 21 no interference of the discharge of one set of flights will be experienced during the discharge of the opposite set of flights.

Operation In use, it will be understood that when the operator, occupying the operators seat I34 adjacent the forward end of the frame I5, manipulates the lever 40, the teeth 33 may be brought into engagement with the teeth 30 of the bull wheel 25 so that with the forward motion of the machine power will be transmitted to drive the elevator II! and cause the spring fingers I3I to travel in the direction of the arrows illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 to gather the vines V which have been plowed up in advance and raise them on the elevator I I! toward the upper rear ends of the bars 27. The depth to which the fingers I3I enter the ground is governed by manipulation of the lever 84 by which the front end of the sub-frame 6| may be raised or lowered. Should an obstacle be encountered such as a rock or boulder the subframe is free to move upwardly and forwardly being guided by the pull rods I8 and drag links 85. Upon returning to lowered position, the rear end of the frame 6| will be suspended on the springs 68, and hence the depth to which the spring fingers I3I enter the ground is limited. The shoes i also serve to protect the forward lower end of the elevator I I! from injury through contact with immovable objects. The vines and their fruit being carried up the elevator II! will be deposited in the hopper I06 to be carried along until such time as a sufiicient number of vines have been accumulated therein whereupon the lever I03 is operated first by a short reciprocable motion to shake the hopper I06 on the links 90 and thereby remove the dirt which may be clinging to the vines and their fruit. Having shaken the earth loose from the vines, the lever I03 is then moved rearwardly about its pivot through an arc of sufiicient length to exert pull on the cable 9S and cause the lever 94 to move about its pivot 93 to move the link II5 rearwardly so as to rock the rock shaft I I2 and move the tines I I 6 into the broken line position illustrated in Figure 5 to permit the contents of the hopper I 06 to be deposited in a pile on the ground for subsequent gathering. In this way, the piles of cleaned vines to which the fruit remains attached are produced and the arduous task of shaking the vines by hand to remove the dirt is eliminated.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 582,238, filed March 12, 1945, and now abandoned.

I claim:

1. In a peanut harvester including an elongated wheeled frame having forward and rear ends, a rear conveyor support rising from the rear end of the frame, a forward conveyor support paralleling and underlying the frame, means pivotally securing the forward conveyor support to the forward end of the frame to permit vertical swinging movement of the forward conveyor support, spring means connecting the forward conveyor support to the frame and yieldingly urging the forward conveyor support raised, a pair of spaced parallel horizontal shafts rotatably supported by said forward support and disposed transversely of the frame, said shafts always remaining parallel to said frame throughout swinging of said forward support, sprockets on said shafts, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined endless conveyor mounted on said forward and rear supports and including endless sprocket chains trained about said sprockets and teeth, a pair of pull-rods pivoted to said forward support for vertical swinging movement, a transverse rockshaft carried by the frame and including laterally projecting rock arms at its ends, sleeves pivoted to said rock arms and slidably receiving said rods, stop collars longitudinally adjustable on said rods for said sleeves, a lever fixed to the rockshaft for rotating the rockshaft to selectively raise and lower said forward support, and means forming a sliding connection between said forward support and said frame to guide the pivotal movement of said forward support and to limit the downward pivotal movement of said forward support relative to the frame.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means forming a connection between said forward support and said frame includes drag links pivoted to said forward support, brackets mounted on said frame rockably and slidably receiving said drag links, and stop collars secured to said drag links above said brackets for engaging said brackets during lowering of said forward support.

GROVER C. KEARSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 930,719 Battee Aug. 10, 1909 1,457,668 Null June 5, 1923 1,726,604 Amen Sept. 3, 1929 2,080,336 Powell May 11, 1937 2,095,428 Batie Oct. 12, 1937 

